Ruler's Jewel
by Sofipitch
Summary: To solve Xing's population problem, Ling Edward, Alponse, and Lan Fan leave to explore Xing's newest territory in the desert, Xerxes. They hope to find the small Ishvalan population they had stubbled upon before. What they find, could not, in any way, shape, or form, be called small. [WIP]
1. Part One

Title: Ruler's Jewel

Author: Sofipitch

Characters: Edward and Alphonse Elric, Ling Yao, Lan Fan, Mei Chang, originals

Series/Timeline: post brotherhood/manga

Genre: Adventure

Warnings: spoilers for the end of the series

Current word count: 3,568

Summary: To solve Xing's population problem, Ling Edward, Alponse, and Lan Fan leave to explore Xing newest territory in the desert, Xerxes.

A/N: If anyone's wondering, I was having problems getting this done with illness, school, and my beta having problems, and then part two was wiped from my flash drive. Thank gosh, my artist had this copy so I didn't show up empty handed, but this is pretty pathetic. I envisioned more done. :'D

_**Part One**_

Ed couldn't help but roll his eyes when one of the Xingese officials (all present ranged from a mix of politicians and other members of Ling's cabinet; military generals; and environmentalists), Bird Brain as Ling liked to call him, stood up and started shouting angrily at an environmentalist, Crinkly Face. For what seemed to be the fifth time this week. He looked over at Alphonse for guidance as to what Bird Brain, or Shang, was arguing, and from the flat look Alphonse gave him; it was another useless argument. They shouted at each other in Xingese, a language Ed claimed he hadn't the patience to bother learning, so he hoped they were debating the uses of the desert land at this point in time, but for all Ed knew, they could've been fighting over who had been served the bigger portion of food at breakfast this morning. But Edward knew better than that, they were fighting over the same thing they did every time Ling called for a meeting. Al, for one, always had the same lifeless expression whenever they began fighting about the alternatives of regulating Xing's population. Al didn't believe there was any alternative solution, so the look of disgust Alphonse always sent towards the two ignorant politicians was, to some degree, comical. It was getting to the point where Ed no longer thought Ling should continue calling meetings, his advisors were just repeating the same charade they did every time.

Ed looked around the room, taking amusement in the walls and decorations of the room, just as he did every day. (It helped with being stuck in a room for a few hours and not being able to understand what everyone in the room was saying.) The Emperor's Court wasn't as decorated with as many tapestries and ordinate statues, as he would've expected, as the only ones in the room were only against one wall, but he guessed that Ling's throne, the most detailed of all the items in the room, alone could have been worth enough to begin a war over if ever stolen. The backrest was a sculpture of millions of little dragons weaving themselves together to create a sturdy back. The dragons came from a mixture of bronze, gold, and jade; each one different and having no resemblance to the others surrounding it. Two of the larger scaled serpents curled outwards to form the arm rests. Ed wondered if Winry would let Al transmute something like that for the living room back home. Maybe of a slightly smaller size than the one Ling was sitting in-practically laying; the seat was so large his feet dangled above the ground and Ed didn't want to have to go through that humiliation again.

Most buildings seemed to be made out of paper and wood, which Ed thought was ridiculously flammable, but Ling's court was made out of a thick almost brick-like solution, just as his apartments were. Ordinate paper covered these walls; they depicted scenes from Xingese mythology. Only one wall didn't have wall paper—the one with the tapestries and statue of a child being born from a lotus flower (It was on this wall you could see the brick the room was made out of). Ling had had to explain to him what each myth meant and why such tales were the ones chosen to decorate the Emperor's court. In the end it turned out each myth had a moral that involved great wisdom, choosing what's right, and respect for life. They seemed to have been put in place to offer inspiration to any emperor who was having difficulty making a decision. Ling said he had that paper put in place; the one his father had chosen had depicted ordinate golden flowers. "Useless," he had said, "Just useless."

Ling eventually stood up and said something in Xingese (It could've been a sentence or only one really long word; from what Ed had been listening to, no one ever seemed to pause or breathe while speaking in Xingese.) and the men stopped arguing and sat back down on their respective sides of the room. Ed wondered what such power must feel like, to be able to utter a few words and have them obey you without question. Ed knew he was the only one who could talk back to the emperor, he figured since they were friends it wouldn't be a problem. He did get a dirty look from one of Ling's servants the first time he did it, but during meetings it seemed he couldn't talk back to the emperor since he knew squat of what they were saying. Although bad mouthing the emperor in a room full of highly educated advisors and cabinet members and more guards than Ed could count try to count (Although he did try once and got to thirty-five guards, twenty cabinet members, and twenty-seven military officers, till the meeting was adjourned and everyone left before he could even get to the cultural and environmental advisors.) didn't sound like one of his wisest of ideas.

The meeting continued peacefully, without any interruptions and very soon Ling chose to conclude their work for the day. Lan Fan magically reappeared at the end, standing by Ling's side watching attentively as everyone else filed before Ling did. Mei Chan, who was seated closer to the emperor than most, also remained seated and waited for everyone else to leave. Two other guards stood at the door, also watching to make sure everyone left the room and didn't sneak off somewhere else. At the beginning of Ling's term, the guards had managed to oversee someone slip off into Ling's apartments and waited there to try and attack Ling the moment the perpetrator saw an open opportunity. Luckily, according to Alphonse, Lan Fan could sense the man's presence before she ever even stepped into Ling's apartments.

No one spoke as the exited the room, remaining as silent and organized as the end of a funeral. And from the looks on everyone's faces, the meeting must have been just as exciting as one. It always seemed a little odd to Ed Ling's career of choice. A life within any government was always so organized and impersonal, and to Ed Ling seemed to be nothing but the complete opposite of formal and distant. To some degree, being present during the meetings only made Edward wonder more about the reasons Ling had wanted to be the emperor so badly.

Once they were out of the room and had exited out into the court's yard, Edward made his way over to Alphonse, who always translated all the meetings for him in the end. Alphonse wasn't fluent when it came to speaking, but he had been taught some Xingese by Mei and had spent enough time in the courtrooms and in meeting to understand the language fluently. "So what's happening? Did they agree to try to build on the land?"

Alphonse let out an annoyed sigh before answering. "They say that they are still going to oversee the condition of the territory before constructing anything on it. There all very superstitious about the land. And not only that, but there's also the problem with people not really jumping to be living in a desert right now. Most people now would rather move back to the countries they originally came from than going to live in the desert."

Over the course of the rein of the last emperor at the seat of the Imperial throne, other countries to the east of Xing had been undergoing various civil wars. People began evacuating their country, trying not to get drafted or caught in the battlefield. Although he wasn't represented as soft and kind in Xingese documents and books, Ling claimed that during his first and last meeting with his father, he had had a gentle heart. It was probably that gentle manner which allowed the peasants enter Xing to seek safety and stability.

But eventually, the number of people pouring in got to be too much. The government began to put restrictions on who could enter the country, only certain people of high wealth or workers the country was in desperate need of would be let in. The rest were simply left to figure out where they were to go next. The economy collapsed in on Xing. Xing went through a rough agricultural period, and many crops failed because of drought and disease. The increased amount of farmers that had their produce failing put Xing behind economically, the large amount farmers were left with little to no money. The large and still growing population became a problem, and the government had to think of ways to fix it, without just dumping their citizens out of the country. Thankfully for the last emperor, he died before he had resolved the problem, leaving Ling with the burden of coming up with a solution for the countries problem.

"The Xingese have mostly lived in the protection of a good climate, they don't know how to live in a desert. They're nothing like the Ishvalans, who would prefer to live in the desert. And we can't just make them leave, we have to find a way to have them go there willingly," Alphonse commented.

In Amestris, they were also having problems with land and population. Once the Ishvalan Equality Act had been put into action, the new government of Amestris had needed to find space in which the Ishvalans could live. The Ishvalan race didn't have much land to begin with, but when the act was passed, there was a promise of more land within the document that gave the Ishvalans much more land than the government had to offer.

Well, it didn't take long for both countries to realize there was a huge area of land next to them that lay completely unclaimed, well kind of. After the destruction of Xerxes, the land was taken over by Xing, only for countries surrounding Xerxes to be lead to believe that the land was cursed, since all of its inhabitants died off in one night. The land legally belonged to Xing, but the Amestrians claimed that Xing had no claim over the land since it had remained untouched for three hundred years. Afraid of potential war with Xing over the land, General Roy Mustang got together with Xingese officials, handpicked by Ling himself, and found a reasonable price for Amestris to be able to buy the land from Xing.

Amestris received the land farther down south, which had a hotter climate and the land was less suited for agriculture rather than in the north, where the land could be sustained easier. But to build a possible railway system between the two countries, Xing preferred that the trains would run mostly through Amestris' land rather than theirs, since they didn't feel they could offer enough room to build on the land without making people leave their homes. And since it would be easier for the railway system to be built in the south that was what Amestris chose to buy. There was also the fact that Amestris didn't have very much money to be able to pay for the land, due to the reconstruction of Amestris after the coup t' eat and the land to the south went for much cheaper than to the north.

So now Xing was trying to figure out how they should approach getting people to move onto the land and also if it would be safe to settle, with stray Ishvalans possibly living on the remains of Xerxes. Alphonse was there to attend the meetings, already living in Xing and being Amestris' ambassador of foreign matters. Edward had also been sent, being, other than Alphonse, one of the only people alive of Xerxian descent. As if he knew shit about that desert anyways. Not many knew anything about the waste land, but it seemed since they supposedly came from the desert, they should know how stable the land should be for future development.

"Of course they didn't decide anything, they never decide anything. Crinkly Face and Bird Brain just keep arguing."

Ed felt he was just there to keep poor, lonely Ling company. The idiot had been asking for a visit for ages now, saying they needed him for the final decision making felt like it was just an excuse to get his ass over there.

"There's also the problem of people already living on the land. Both you and Ling met people that were living on the Xerxes ruins, we can't just go over and shove them off. And they may not want to be residents of Xing either, so we have to figure out a way to let them stay or get them out peacefully." Alphonse looked down at the scroll in his hands. "So basically we've just been debating the same thing we have been for the past few weeks, while still turning up with no answers." Alphonse gave Ed an exasperated look before rolling his eyes before looking down to review the items written down on his scroll.

"What were Bird Brain and Crinkly Face arguing over earlier?" Ed asked.

"Oh, Ling just made the mistake of proposing that he could go into the desert and talk to those living there himself rather than to let someone else do so," Alphonse didn't look up at Ed as he spoke, he just continued to review his notes, so Ed couldn't tell whether it was a bad thing or a good thing.

"And is Ling traveling a bad thing?"

"Hmm?" Alphonse looked up. "Well to us no, but those working for the emperor don't believe it's safe for him to leave and travel through an enormous desert. He'll probably end up leaving despite what they might want, but it was probably a mistake to let them know about it. Things get messy and more complicated when his court feels the need to put in their two cents." Alphonse shrugged and gave a 'what-can-you-do' expression before continuing on. "They can debate all the pros and cons all they want, but it's not like Ling is really listening to their advice. I don't think he trusts their ideas of how to handle the situation."

Ed rolled his eyes. "He might have been joking about crossing the desert. You know how much he hates the heat."

"When it comes to Ling, who knows. All I know is that it was a mistake to mention it."

The debate on how to get people in and out of the desert had been going on the entire time Ed had been there and even before. It was possible Ling had said he would enter the desert himself out of annoyance of wanting to end all discussion and move on to actually get people in action. The only problem being that they didn't really know who was living there, if there was more than the last time they had been there or less. And in reality, they didn't want to anger those living there for they were the ones who could tell them how to cultivate the land. Ling wanted to try his best to keep the people there and happy. Everyone else in his cabinet really couldn't care less for those people.

Ed thought that it was only a matter of time before Ling did in fact get up and walk all the way through the desert himself to fix any problems. He only had a limited amount of patience for the members of his cabinet and anything Edward said went in one ear and out the other. Alphonse received a little more time and consideration, but wouldn't be able to stop him from doing anything irrational either. Their best hope was Lan Fan, who'd be able to kick his ass first if he chose to do anything stupid, since she was the one keeping constant on all of the idiot Emperor's whereabouts.

-X-

At the end of the next meeting, according to Alphonse, the council came to a conclusion on what they were going to do. The thing they could not agree on was letting Ling be one of the candidates to travel the desert. Ling spoke in the favor of being able to travel across to the ruins of ancient Xerxes. His main argument was that he had done it before and that if he took his bodyguard with him he would be fine, but they, his council, argued against his case vigorously. But in the end it settled that Ling would travel through the desert to the ruins of ancient Xerxes. Really, in the end, Ling was emperor, and he would do whatever the hell he wanted. End of discussion. Or at least in this respective.

-X-

Not long after Ling's final decision was announced, Edward and Alphonse were called to Ling's presence. When they were got to the private room buried deep within the center of passages throughout the palace and expertly guarded by more of Ling's bodyguards than Ed figured there were protecting the court, (Not that he would know the difference between them, they all looked the same in their black attire and moved too fast for him to tell how many there were present.) Ling and Mei had already managed to be arguing.

The servant who had brought them through the halls and to the room announced their arrival to the royals, but they paid no attention to them, Mei didn't even turn to look at him as she waved him off, too engrossed in arguing her point with Ling to realize her rudeness. Alphonse thanked the servant in their place and then proceeded to follow the argument, which for Edward was very conveniently in Xingese, and every once in a while putting in his opinion.

Mei Chan had grown since he had last seen her during the fight on the promised day. He could no longer call her bean girl, although he referred to her by that whenever talking to others, and in exchange she no longer insulted him about how in refined and un-prince-like he was. When he had first arrived and he had called Winry, she had overheard some of the conversation and later commented that he may not be as much of an idiot as she had believed. Although she had also made sure reassure him that he was still very much a rude brat. Her hair was also shorter and she had obviously gone through puberty for she looked older and a lot more her age than she had when she was younger. She also spoke more politics now than she did fairytales and seemed to boss Ling around so much about how to do his job you'd think she was his wife (or Lan Fan).

As the argument continued, Ed eventually decided that he deserved to be in on whatever was happening too. So he asked.

Mei turned to him with a scowl on her face. "He doesn't seem to understand how incredibly irresponsible just leaving the country and traveling into some unknown lands is!"

Ling was seated opposite of where Mei was standing. He was seated with his knees crossed and his hands in his lap; he looked very calm, with the exception of his eyebrows being furrowed together and the tone of his voice. "I have already told you, I've done it before. I know what I'll be up against."

"That was back when you were a prince, not when you were the emperor of one of the biggest nations in the world!"

And then they reverted back to arguing in Xingese and completely excluding Edward.

Ed was beginning to drift off when Alphonse spoke up. "Do you plan on going with Ling if he leaves?"

Mei turned to look at Alphonse. She looked at him with slightly widened eyes, seeming a little bewildered at someone else having spoken. "No, of course not," she said. "You couldn't pay me enough money to make me cross that desert again."

Ed heard Ling mutter something about her being a spoiled brat, but both Alphonse and Mei either didn't notice or simply brushed the insult off.

"Then," Alphonse gestured towards Ling, "If he leaves you would be here too take care of Xing."

Both royals paused and contemplated on the consequences such situation could bring, but when finding none they looked at each other and nodded as if having reached an agreement. "As long as she doesn't try to take the crown and become Empress herself, I don't have a problem with such arrangement," Ling said.

Mei shot Ling a cold look them shrugged her shoulders. "If Ling shows me what to do, I wouldn't have a problem with holding such duties." Ed found it ironic Mei asked to be showed how to do Ling's job beforehand, for she bossed him around so much you'd think she already knew. He decided it would be better for his health and safety if he kept that comment to himself though.

"Then I'll have it arranged." Ling confirmed.

Ed stretched his arms over his head. "Al, I think you should be Emperor. You know how to fix everything."

Ling jokingly shot Alphonse a defiant look. "Shall we duel for the throne?"

"I think I'm done with getting involved in any arguments for today."


	2. Part Two, Chapter One

Title: Ruler's Jewel

Author: Sofipitch

Characters: Edward and Alphonse Elric, Ling Yao, Lan Fan, Mei Chang, originals

Series/Timeline: post brotherhood/manga

Genre: Adventure

Warnings: spoilers for the end of the series

Current word count: 6,845

Summary: To solve Xing's population problem, Ling Edward, Alponse, and Lan Fan leave to explore Xing newest territory in the desert, Xerxes.

**Part Two**

_Chapter One_

1:00 P.M.

Ling was finally beginning to remember why he disliked the desert so much. So was Ed, Al could tell. Ling seemed to despise the heat and Edward complained that his automail wasn't helping, but Alphonse knew that he was only using it as an excuse to complain. Winry had switched the material to a lighter more insulated model, made to tolerate the heat. Over the phone a few weeks before, Winry had told him that even if Ed didn't plan on doing anything dangerous, the new model would help with the train ride over the desert, at the very least. So Alphonse doubted Edward could be in that much pain with his automail leg attached, since Winry had assured that he would be able to support heat without much difficulty at all.

And Edward's clothing, was also light. He wore a short sleeved shirt with a long sleeved white smock with a hood. Only his pants were long, also made of thin, loose linen. Alphonse and Ling went in the same thing, only with a long linen shirt under the smock. Everything they wore had to cover their skin for fear of sun damage and the viruses the desert bugs could be carrying. Al didn't know how Lan Fan was traveling in her usual armor and weaponry. At least she had surrendered the mask, although she still carried it on her back.

As if the heat weren't enough, Edward and Ling were also having problems with their camels. Well, Ling wasn't having much of any problem, just his camel, Hungry-what Ling decided to deem him. The problem with Hungry was that Hungry seemed too desperately wanted to eat Edward's hair. He would come up behind Ed and take a few hairs into his mouth and begin to chew. Ed would of course yank his ponytail back and curse at the animal. Ling thought of this to be _hysterical_, so he stayed behind Ed for as long as he could before Ed made him walk next to him so the camel couldn't get him. And that seemed to be the end of their problems till Ed's camel tried to buck him off of its back.

It appeared Edward didn't have very much luck with animals; especially not camels.

Alphonse liked his camel; it was a steady creature. Although its steps rocked more than a horse's, its steps were also steadier and firmer in the sand than a horse's. Al took a liking to them, and even laughed when Ed's camel tried to shove him off. But after all the luck Ed had had with the animal: who couldn't help but laugh? Not even Lan Fan could keep back a slight smile; the only person who didn't find amusement in the situation was Edward. But his reasons were justified.

When arrangements for the journey had been made, it had been known someone else would be going with Ling through the desert other than Lan Fan. That had been the last court meeting. Many had volunteered themselves, and Ling fought many of them on such undertakings mostly because he didn't like them. So when Al volunteered Ling immediately gave the excuse that Alphonse was a descendent of Xerxes and would understanding the culture better than they would. Of course what Ling said was a lie,-Al knew a little but not enough to be desperately valuable-and their friendship was what really got him the position unlike the rest of the cabinet, but since Al was grateful so he didn't go on saying that it was unfair.

After the meeting Ling had urged Edward to come also. Although a little reluctant, he agreed to go. Probably only because Al was going and once they left Mei would've been the only person he knew that he could talk to in the entire palace. He would've had to stay in Xing for a week without understanding the language spoken to him. Nevertheless, once they began their journey, Ed complained like a cat that had been dragged out into the rain. There was a common understanding between all of them that he didn't, to some degree, (the desert really was ghastly, to anyone) mean all of his complaints. Alphonse thought he was just trying to keep people together, and—his people skills were terrible but every once in a while he would pick up on people's emotions—possibly trying to keep Ling's mind off the task currently taken up and ahead.

It really was a tedious job getting out of the country. They had had carriages escort them to the boarder, camels that had been ordered beforehand in tow. The carriages were more elegant and decorated than Alphonse could have imagined ever riding in. They were red. Red painting job on the exterior and interior and red seat cushions, the same shade as the saddles that had been placed on the camels. To the Xingese, red was the color of luck; and Ed just found the color badass. The inside and outside of the carriages were covered in ordinate gold trim, marking that they were of nobility. Ling's ride was decorated with not only trim, but the trim would snake itself up and down the exterior of the carriage, producing an image that looked like a vine, flowers engraved into the gold to add to the effect. The carriage appeared as a moving red and gold painting. The more gold on his carriage and the fact that he rode in front of Edward and Alphonse signified that Ling was of higher ranking than the brothers. Lan Fan rode a horse behind Ling's carriage. The man escorting them out of the country and driving Ling's carriage watched the front of the path for danger. Other guards followed all around.

They did not travel as members of the royal court and Ling did not travel as emperor, seeing the entire plan was to be carried out without the knowing of any of his subjects, or even the court. If other clans were to catch wind of his absence, they would run to capture the throne. Mei Chang, per say, kept Ling's throne warm for him. But she would not leave for very many special attendances. Even the lie of Ling's illness could be used against him. Leaving was a dangerous and brash move for Ling, so it would all be done in secret. They still traveled in luxury, but were mildly inconspicuous.

They reached the deserts edge before dawn, their trip having been made so that they would have a direct route to Xerxes if they continued on in a straight course. Once they had all been woken up, they had begun their journey to Xerxes, savoring the freshness and mild temperatures of the morning air while they could. It had only taken one day to make it to Xing's edge from the Imperial Palace. They expected it would take two to make it Xerxes. Everything would be harder for them in the heat.

-X-

3:04 P.M.

"Alphonse," Ling craned his neck sideways to look at Alphonse, "I was just wondering if you know anything on Xerxian history. General Mustang said that you did." It had been obvious why Al had been attending the meetings for the restoration of Xerxes as a part of Xing. Now was finally a moment in when Al had a chance to speak to prove why.

His bangs where slick with sweat and he brushed then out of his face as he talked. "Before the people of Xerxes disappeared, it was big in the trade commerce. People from all over came to trade with them because not only did they produce products, they opened their streets to foreigners willing to sell their products. That is why what happened in Xerxes was discovered so quickly, people from other regions and countries began to wonder what had happened to their loved ones who went to sell merchandise there. They eventually traveled there to find them themselves. The trading business also made Xerxes great for looting, for they had rugs from the far corners of Drachma and textiles from Aerugo just lying on the street. Really, through looting it was that we have any information that happened to Xerxes."

"People that had gone there themselves wrote books on it?" Ling asked.

"I've only ever seen one. I picked it up at this really strange bookstore near Dublith."

"After the promised day?" Edward's face was a light anger, but mellowed so that it became an indescribable—you could almost say tired—emotion. Sardonic, maybe.

Al nodded. "After the promised day," he repeated.

"They don't have any other information on anything else than the trade commerce in Xerxes?"

"Most of Xerxes' history died with it." Nevertheless, Alphonse's eyebrows seemed to furrow as he tried to recall any other important information. "The book was small…" he mumbled. "But I think I can recall something about tombs and underground burials in Xerxes."

He sat on his camel pensive for only a moment longer before he seemed to finally remember what had only come to him in little tidbits, in full light. "Looters would also find caverns under the ground. People would be buried with the items they possessed in their mortal life, and the items of nobles—gold, jewels, and dyed robes—would be stolen."

Ling seemed thoughtful while absorbing the information but all the sudden, he burst into a large grin. "Would there still be jewels left at Xerxes?"

Alphonse was perplexed. He didn't understand the excitement. "No, they were probably all stolen years ago."

Ling's eyes shifted downcast. "Oh."

"Why would you want to know your majesty?" Lan Fan, who had been mostly silent for the most part of the trip, inquired.

"I thought I could lure my people out to the desert if there where something as amazing as gold to be found."

Lan Fan couldn't find anything to say to that, nor could Alphonse, so they didn't.

A long moment of silence passed. Ed broke it, complaining. He straightened his ponytail so that it didn't rest on his neck. "Ugh. I HATE this desert."

Alphonse really didn't think the comment really helped the situation.

-X-

7:30 P.M.

They continued to trudge on through the desert, only stopping till it was so dark they could no longer see what was in front of them. When they stopped, Alphonse transmuted a domed shelter for them out of tightly packed sand. Well, the sand was transmuted into a slightly sturdier rock-like material, but the grain particles weren't transmuted much bigger. The only hole in the design stood off to the right of the top of the dome; it served as an exit for smoke once they built a campfire. It was relatively small, big enough for smoke to get out but small enough that not too much cold air would get inside. Edward and Lan Fan didn't particularly like that their 'shelter' for the night was made completely out of sand, although Alphonse reassured them that it was "highly unlikely" that it would collapse. But Ling noticed that Edward walked around in the shelter with noticeably lighter steps. Alphonse just seemed overall annoyed at their distrust in him. Ed claimed that it wasn't Al he didn't trust, he knew from experience he was a very talented alchemist, he just didn't trust the probability of wind from outside knocking their sand fortress down. Especially one with a hole when wind could easily penetrate and enlarge till the structure collapsed.

Ling felt safe within Alphonse's construction, but he didn't know much about alchemy, so he decided it would be wiser not to say anything against it. He couldn't make an argument against it. Against Edward maybe, but not against Alphonse. But the dominant reason was that he was too tired and preoccupied with his mission to build up an argument against the commodities given. They were decent; much better than sleeping outside in the open during the night like they had done the first time they ventured out into the desert.

He had really had had his hopes raised when Alphonse had mentioned that Xerxes used to be a good place for looting, because of the treasures that could still be found in that trading kingdom. But that idea-the one of luring his people with the claim of fortune left on the land-had been shot down rather quickly. And now Ling once again felt stuck, partially because he was so attached to his earlier idea. If it were just any other land—with grass, water, and desirable temperatures—his task wouldn't seem as daunting as it did. Only a few Xingese peasants lived at the edge of the desert. No one wanted to live in those conditions. Slowly the pressure was eating away at him and the more and more he thought about his problem, the harder to solve it began to seem. Xerxes was probably his best shot at fixing everything, and it wouldn't be as hard as it had been if he could just evacuate his people without their consent. But if it were that easy, he could have just done that in the beginning, and then he would become the first emperor to evacuate his people to a wasteland! Not quite the way he wanted to make things better for those living in Xing.

Slowly his trip into the desert began to seem more as whimsical escape from his court than a trip that could save Xing.

Sometimes when Ling felt stuck on a problem, he liked to ask himself what other good rulers would've done, but now that mindset wouldn't work for even his great father also hadn't had an answer and had struggled with the population issue for years. Usually a country tried to focus on how to increase their population rather than reduce it. The more he thought about it the more anxious Ling became, and as he thought during supper, he didn't speak, which made Lan Fan send him glances out of the corner of her eye. He gestured to her he was fine, but she was stubborn. Thankfully, she didn't say anything out loud.

After he ate, Ling decided it would be better to sleep, for if not, he would drive himself crazy pondering on his current difficulties. Once he suggested sleep, everyone else followed.

He'd like to believe that there were still riches waiting in Xerxes, but that wouldn't be the case, so he told himself to prepare for meeting the Ishvalans in a few days. And when he announced himself to be Xing's emperor, he didn't want to have dark circles under his eyes and a tired lingering gaze. Although being bathed in sweat and smelling awful would be inevitable after their trek.

As he slowly went about relaxing his tense muscles, Ling eventually fell asleep, warm and comfortable against the campfire. Thoughts of his journey slowly fading away for the night.

-X-

7:47 P.M.

It only took a few minutes for Ling and Lan Fan to go to sleep. The four of them were curled up around the fire, their camels surrounding them, blocking out some of the cold air and preserving the little heat they had between the four of them. Ling was snoring softly and the camel he was leaning against was chewing on the end of his ponytail. Lan Fan had somehow managed to fall asleep completely ridged and stiff. Alphonse, Ed knew, wasn't asleep yet, but he didn't say anything to initiate a conversation. They had traveled a long way today, he was probably exhausted.

Ed leaned back against his camel to try to collect heat from the animal. He had known what the temperatures were going to be like, having already traveled through the desert once, but the drastic drops of temperature still didn't fail to amaze him. During the day while the sun was scorching everything that dared enter the vast wasteland he couldn't wait till it became night and it was freezing. While being weighed down by heat, nothing seemed more appetizing. Then when it did turn to night, you couldn't wait for it to be day and warm again. The desert was almost like a never-ending cycle of failed expectations. Even though they were protected by shelter—a structure made entirely out of sand which made Ed weary although he had yet to hear the familiar howling of wind and uplifting of sand—the temperatures from outside still couldn't entirely be prevented from entering the shelter.

Ed tried to keep watch during the night, even though the others had said that they wouldn't need it, Edward didn't doubt they would need someone attentive just in case something happened. But Ed was tired from traveling and only about five minutes later Ed found sleep beginning to tug his eyelids down and his head seemed to be drooping, till Alphonse whispered, "Brother?" and woke him back up.

"Al, you should be sleeping," Edward scolded as he blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes.

"So should you."

Ed changed the direction of their conversation. "What is it Al?"

"Brother, what do you think we'll do once we do find the Ishvalans?"

Ed had to think that over for a second; it was a good question. "Ling and his council didn't talk this over?" He had been slumping down earlier but now he sat up.

Alphonse was lying on his stomach, a blanket draped over his shoulders. He was propped up on his elbows. The dying fire made it hard for Al to be seen and was beginning to let the cold drift in. Edward pushed the light blue blanket he had covering him and got up to find his lighter.

Al shook his head. "They talked over the different outcomes this mission could have, they left what do or say to Ling."

"The different outcomes?" Ed's hand rummaged around inside his backpack, trying to find his lighter in the near dark.

Alphonse gesticulated as he talked. "Whether Ishvalans will actually be found, and whether they will want to cooperate or not."

Ed nodded implying that he understood. He lit a flame with the newly found lighter and touched it to the dying old one. It blazed back to life, not as strong it had been before, but sufficient to shield them from the cold. "I don't know what will happen. We'll have to see if we can even find them."

"How do you think Jerso and Zampano are doing?" Ed asked as the two chimeras came to mind. They had left them behind in Xing and Ed knew they would be eagerly waiting Alphonse's return.

"Fine probably. They were annoyed at how much this whole ordeal has been keeping me from helping them, but they won't stop trying to look for an answer, even with me gone. I don't think they'll get very far without an actual scientist around though."

Ed sat back down, careful not lean his back against the sand wall. His camel's rear was against his side now. "At least they know what their looking for."

Alphonse gave a smile that could've almost been called sarcastic. "They can barely speak Xingese. I highly doubt they'll be able to identify anything even if they were staring right at it."

"Oh." Ed rolled his eyes.

There was a long moment of silence then. There was so much to think about regarding their mission. It wasn't nearly as big of a task as they had been asked to take before, but it was the enormity of the outcome that seemed to fascinate everyone making this journey, making them doubt it could have such a promising result.

Edward really did think that Ling got away with leaving rather easily. If he had been in Amestris, there would have been many more conferences and paperwork for a journey so large and dangerous. But since Xing was a monarchy, Ling only had to say the word and he could be out the door. Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. He had his court, his cabinet, whatever you want to call it, to consult and he had Mei to reprimand him. But with such great amount of power given to the emperor, Ling was very capable of not only doing as he pleases, but getting what he believed was right done faster.

Mustang complained all the time and Ed himself knew from experience that paperwork was only made to slow a man down.

"You should get some rest Ed," Alphonse said rolling himself over onto his back. He pulled his blanket up to his chin. "You have to keep your energy up for tomorrow. We should be reaching Xerxes by then. You don't need to keep watch, Lan Fan's probably keeping watch in her sleep."

"Yeah." Edward extended his hands to the fire to heat them up before pulling the blanket he had tossed off earlier on him. Ed waited till he was certain Al was asleep before closing his eyes. He let the world around him go to sleep before he could be confirmed that he should settle down.

-X-

9:00 A.M.

The next day, they all woke around an approximated eight o'clock. The shelter hadn't collapsed, to which Alphonse had no comment, and they had already been experiencing the beginning of the day's heat. Although no one was in the mood for tolerating the heat as they had the day before, they decided it'd be best if they got down and walked for a few hours, with fear of tiring the camels till the point where they would refuse to move. The one thing that the sales men had made clear was that camels were very moody creatures, and they hadn't failed to show that throughout the trip as Edward's camel tried in vain to remove Ed from his back. Alphonse, nor the others, wanted the camels to refuse to walk due to overwork, so the morning, a time when the temperatures weren't at their extremes yet, everyone walked beside their camels, only holding the reigns. To Ed's joy, the camel didn't try to kick him while he was walking on the ground next to it.

They continued on like this till around noon, when Lan Fan asked for permission to remove pieces of her armor and weapons, removing with it heat that had been carried with the pieces of metal. She made herself a small kind of a saddle with the clothing and strung the knifes she had from the ends of the saddle like decorations. Everyone used the small stop taken for her to disrobe to rest and eat lunch. But once they started moving again, they only walked for fifteen more minutes before Al realized that they were walking slower than the camels. They decided to take this as a sign to mount the animals for the duration of the rest of the journey.

-X-

5:45 P.M.

They were much more comfortable riding as opposed to walking, and Ling believed that it allowed them to go much faster, for around six o'clock, they arrived that the Xerxes ruins. Relief flooded all of them as they saw the enormous ancient city arising from the desert wasteland. They were already partially done with their journey, they all thought.

They rode up into the inner city, looking every which way searching for life as they went. Neither Edward, Ling, nor Lan Fan seemed any less entranced with the buildings as Alphonse, even though they had already been to Xerxes. There was something so strange about now knowing how the entire civilization died and how all the stories of a cursed land hadn't actually been urban legends. To think that his father had lived here and watched as everything he ever knew collapsed… It all sent shivers up Alphonse's spine. Despite knowing what had happened, the mysterious air that the place carried refused to leave.

The buildings had been abandoned for centuries, well at least most of them. If there were people still living on the land, the buildings appearance showed no sign of it. They were crumbing, in some areas only a mound of rubble remained as proof that anything had ever been there. There were entire areas in which nothing was left standing, and plants grew up inside the buildings that were still intact. It was very saddening to look at and hard to believe anything but animals could live there.

Once at what they believed was a close approximation to the center of the city, they tied the camels up and built a shelter using the base to one of the other buildings which had begun eroding, but was found in a manageable condition.

Alphonse looked out towards the horizon, noticing that the sun was just beginning to sink into the sunset. He guessed it would be dark in only an hour. "We should probably begin looking for the Ishvalans now; the sun's going to set soon. We should split up to cover more area sooner." He paused before being the first to express wonder in the ruins. "This place is huge."

Everyone readily agreed with Alphonse's idea of splitting up.

"Okay, I'll go with Edward towards the western side of the area," Ling said.

Alphonse turned to Lan Fan, knowing that she should go with Ling, being his bodyguard, but she seemed nonchalant, towards the separation. Edward too seemed indifferent. But Ed had always been dense when it came to people.

"We'll all meet back here in an hour and if we've meet anyone we'll also bring them, okay?"

"Fine with me," Edward said, "If we don't make it back, come looking for us because Ling have probably gone off and fainted somewhere."

"If we go a night without dinner, I'm cooking you."

Alphonse looked over at Lan Fan once again, still confused as to her reaction, but to him, she looked amused watching Ling and Edward's interaction.

Al sighed. "That's relieving. Make sure you guys have some tools with you just in case something happens-"

"Just in case Ling happens."

Alphonse scowled at Edward and Ling took the opportunity of silence to defend himself. "Why does it have to be me? You're not as agile as me! If anyone is going to fall in a hole somewhere it'd be you."

"I lived on a deserted island for a month. I think I have a better survival knowledge than you!"

"Just make sure you stay safe," Al piped up, speaking before they could continue to argue.

Edward gave him a wary and unreassuring look in return.

-X-

6:15 P.M.

Before they all went their separate ways, Lan Fan pulled Edward and handed him one of the small knives she would usually keep hidden up her sleeve. "I'm trusting you with the life of the emperor of Xing. If anything happens to him, the entire nation of Xing will hold both you and me accountable."

The only way to describe what Edward was feeling at the moment could be scared, although it wasn't really fear of her but more of fear Xingese style punishments. "Nothing will happen to him. He's not _that_ stupid."

He'd thought she would agree with him. She dealt with the guy every day, and she had known Edward for a long time now; he thought she would loosen up and maybe even laugh. She had to have a sense of humor; most normal humans did. The look she gave him made him want to crawl inside himself and hide. He felt awkward as he walked away, with a mixed feeling of wanting to say sorry, yet thinking that that might piss her off even worse. Lan Fan reminded him of phosphorus mixed with water, ready to burst at any given moment, or even worse, Winry. Woman in Ling's court, princesses and servants alike, were all dainty and kind. They didn't look like they were ready to wring his neck the moment he did something stupid. Why was it that he was the one who got to live with the women who had no sense of patience for their male counterpart? Ed bet the women in Ling's court wouldn't even know how to aim a wrench to brain him. They'd be horrified by the notion at the least.

Once they left, Ling fell oddly silent, walking ahead of Ed, rather than next to him. It seemed he lost his audience and he was tired. Ed couldn't imagine the pressure Ling felt from this mission he had taken up, or the pressure of being emperor of an entire country. He knew what it felt like to have an entire country waiting on you, its fate in your hands, but not for too long. Ling had more long term problems. It wasn't just one day he was going to take to correct something; he was going to dedicate the rest of his life to fixing Xing. The task must've been overwhelming to him as a fairly new emperor, so he chose to let Ling have a moment of silence to think instead of saying something to draw him back into the world.

The heat was dispersing, a good sign that it would be night soon. They needed to hurry, and find the Ishvalans if they were to that evening. If not they had to next day to find them. Ed thought that there was probably a better chance in the morning; they might be preparing to go to sleep by now. The Ishvalans lived in the desert away from civilization; they probably didn't have any oil lamps or any other for a light source other than the possibility of candles. If that were the case, they probably didn't stay up late at night. They'd want to make the best use of daylight by going to bed early and rising at dawn. In Risenbool, many families went by those working principles.

"Do you think the Ishvalans who had been living here could have left? When I came last time, they were more obvious, it wasn't hard to find them. Now this place feels empty."

Ed gave a Ling a lazy shrug. "When I first came I thought this place was completely deserted till one came out and attacked me. They may just have been out in the open because they didn't have to fear you; you're not Amestrian. They may be hiding because you're with me this time."

Ling's head tilted to the right as he digested what Edward had said. "Do you think they'd come out if I called to them?"

"They might think we're here to threaten them."

"Then what are we supposed to do? They might just continue to hide as long as we're here and then we'd never meet them. We can't just wait!" Ling was showing more of a shorter temper towards their undertaking. Now Ed had evidence that he was stressed out.

"What we do is your call, not mine. I'm not that keen at making good first impressions. And hey, if they're not here then it's easier for us to just move onto the land."

"I'd been hoping that they could help teach us how to cultivate the land," Ling said with a lot more disappointment than he'd probably allow visible inside his court.

"We can't really be sure that they would be willing to help us if we did find them to be living here. Amestris took the Ishvalans' land to make it a part of their country. The Ishvalans here might just see this as another removal act and resist giving in the land. There's no way there'd be a war or anything to that scale, but there would be hostility once the Xingese came in. With so many different possibilities as to what could happen, I think it'd be better if they weren't here."

The Ishvalans that had fought with the Amestrians during the promised day had been grateful for their alliance, but when Amestris publically apologized to the Ishvalans and welcomed them back into their society by cleaning up the slums and allowing those who had been omitted back into the military, there had been a small group of those—mostly people residing from the younger generation—who had refused to accept peace so quickly. Ed had been attacked by some Ishvalans right here at the ruins simply for being Amestrian, and although once Mistress Shan had appeared they had stopped acting brashly out of violence, some had still sent him rude looks as he talked to her. Peace was something that would never be completely unified amongst humans. There would always be a few who would rather not put back old difference to coexist. Edward doubted Ling would understand the entire situation between the Ishvalans and Amestrians. Although he had been explained everything which had happened, (he had to when Mustang went to tell him why he wanted the desert land down south) Ling had always been a bit more of a dreamer and an optimist to trying and comprehending why certain people and races would prefer not to interact. In Ling's world, everyone probably wants to be kind to one another; Ling himself was never afraid of people.

"But they are here," Ling said, determined. "And that's what we're going to have to deal with." Ling had such tiny, slit like eyes that Ed barely noticed him narrowing them. "In other words, that means no talking from you. You know how to ruin things really quickly with people in terms of diplomatic relations."

"I'm not that bad!" Edward whined.

Ling made an annoyed scoffing noise, before giving Ed the widest smile he'd seen since Ed's camel first tried to buck him off.

-X-

6:54 P.M.

They scoured the desert for more than twenty minutes, but as the sun continued to beat down upon them, each minute felt as if an hour had past as the search for human life became more and more hopeless. The thoughts that the Ishvalans really had left became more and more prominent. All Edward wanted was for the sun to sink so that they could return back to their camp and curl up and sleep. The day had been rigorous and a good meal and rest didn't seem to be too extravagant of a reward. The ruins where all beginning to look the same to Edward, they were broken down empty box-shaped structures made of sand and clay to him. Now no longer in the area where the higher class had lived, everything looked much less exciting. Only one thing set in his mind, he barely noticed anything else around him, but obviously Ling still had the energy and curiosity to continue searching.

"Hey, Ed, what do you think this is?"

Ling had wandered out ahead of Ed and was now standing in front of a structure he couldn't quite see. He blinked, reinstating himself back into the world, and moved to join Ling. The object Ling stood in front of stood only five feet off the ground and Ed would very faintly see where inscriptions of some sort had decorated the object. It almost appeared as a mud and clay stump which lay out of the ground, and was thick enough to not have been worn down by the desert wind, which always came fierce and peppered with sand. It had a rectangular outline which stood where Ed decided was the front of the protruding stone. The outline was cut out and sunk deep enough into the structure that Ed guessed it was made to open. The only thing missing for it to be a door was a handle or knob of some kind. "I dunno. I'd guess it's a door of some sort."

"No, I meant what do you think it could have been used for. It's a stump with a door that leads to nowhere."

Ed couldn't quite understand Ling's fascination with the object. He said it himself; it was a door that lead to nowhere. Ed watched Ling circle the door, dragging his hand around the top, inspecting it. Despite feeling it was pointless, Ed further examined the stump.

"It might have been used for storage of some sort," Edward suggested, "Like a pantry, or wardrobe of some sort."

"Do you really think the Xerxians would have had something like that?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't know this culture, so anything's," he paused, looking over at Ling in surprise as he realized what he had been about to say and who else would have said it, "Possible."

Ling blinked, let what Ed had just said sink in, before laughing. Ed had been afraid of a different, more mournful reaction to come out of him, but he was glad it didn't. "Yeah, I guess it is!" Ling said once he stopped laughing.

"Although," Ed said, "Now that I think about it, it is sort of small for storage space…" He laid his hand on the top of the structure as if the answer would come to him through osmosis. "It could be," he paused for a moment to think his hypothesis over, "like a cellar or something like that."

"Cellars are underground dugouts used for storage, right?" Ling asked, still questioning the difference that it would have made if it were a cellar as opposed to a wardrobe.

"Right." Ed smiled and looked to meet Ling's eye, "And sometimes they can be used as a hideout for protection against bad weather." Risenbool was so mountainous and rugged that at the Rockbell home they barely ever had to go down in the cellar for anything else other than a bad lightning storm. And Ed knew from experience that the Rockbell cellar, with all its scrap metal piled up down there, was more dangerous than any storm he'd ever experienced. For if you were to accidentally sit on a piece of metal it wouldn't bend, _that_ was for _sure_.

"Do you think the Ishvalans might live down there to escape the heat?" Ling's eyes widened in excitement and Ed could see the spark of energy which Ling had had at the beginning of the mission rekindle.

Ed stared at the door, still thinking that Ling put a little too much hope into finding any organized civilization. He shrugged, "We could try."

The door had no knob so prying it open took the two much more time than it really should have. They tried to fit their fingers inside the crevasse in between the door and its frame, but their fingers proved to be too large and their fingernails too short and flimsy to do the job on their own. After much pulling and cursing, Edward remembered the tiny knife Lan Fan had handed to him beforehand. Ling questioned why Edward had such blade, but all Ed had to tell him was that Lan Fan had given it to him for him to understand the situation.

The blade didn't fit as perfectly as they would've wanted, the blade thickened closer towards its handle which only gave them a little bit of the blade to work with, and Ed could no longer transmute the blade to fit their needs. It took a lot of wiggling to pry the smallest bit of the door open—the blade had been quite small for such task—but it managed to open up a bit of the door successfully, and the rest of the work they were able to do with their hands.

Edward was correct on his hypothesis. Upon opening the door, a narrow stairway was revealed leading under the ground. The stairs where steep and there was no room to go down standing. Ling began to move to go down.

Edward put his hand out in front of him. "Wait. We should go find Al and Lan Fan first."

"Oh, come on," Ling dragged his words into a whine, "If we actually find people we'll go and get them, but I don't want to lead them here if it only ends up being a dead end."

Ed stared at Ling for a long moment, thinking over his proposal, but still appearing as if he wanted Ling to bend to his will. He sighed. "Fine, but if we do find people, we go back up to get Al."

"Okay!" Ling gave a breezy smile before getting down on his hands and knees and going down the stairs backwards since the stairs were too steep to trust his grace standing. Ed hesitated before following, allowing some room to be made between himself and Ling so that he wouldn't accidently step on Ling's hand while going down. He looked back at the sun. It wasn't yet sunset, and he didn't expect this to take very long. But just in case, under Al's command Ed carried a lighter in his pocket just for if they were to need to make their way back in the dark. Not that he really expected to need to use it.


End file.
